Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-09-16
the snoE. Ne ilisturl,e.,


pulsive birds, and marve!ed at the extra
ordinary speed with which they arrive On
scene of slaughter. \ buck falls TO your
rifle and within minute, high in the
blue ether appears a speck that gradually
grows ilto vulture, and then another,
and another. i have heard many theories
advanced to account for the wonderful
power of perception nature has given these
birds Ny own, founded on good dealof
observation, is, that the vultures, gifted,
as they are, with powers of sight greater
than those given by the most powerful!
glass, quarter out the heavens among
themselves, and, hanging in mid-air at
vast height-probably from two TO three
miles above the earth-keep watch, each
of them over an enormous stretch OF coun-
try. Presently one OF them spies food, and
instantly begins to sink toward it. There
on his next neighhor in the airy heights,
sailing leisurely through the blue gulf, al
a distance, perhaps, of some miles, follows
his example, knowing that food has been
sighted. Down he goes, and all the yul-
lures within sight of him follow after, and
so do all those in sight Of them. In this
way the vultures for twenty miles round
can be summoned to the feast in a few
minutes.
We buried our dead in solemn silence,
Good being selected to read the Burial
Service over them Gn the absence OF Mr..
Mackenzie, confined to bed, rs he was
generally allowed to possess the best voice
and most impressive manner. 1t was mel
ancholy in the extreme, but, as Good said,
it might have been worse, for we might
have had ito bury ourselves" l pointed
out that this would have been q difficult
feat, but knew what he meant.
Next we set to work to load an ox-wagon
which had been brought round from the
Mission, with the dead bodies Of the Nasal,
having first collected the spears, shields,
and other arms We loaded the wagon
five times, about fifty bodies to the load
and emptied it into the Tana. From this
it was evident that very few Of the Nasal
could have escaped. The crocodiles must
have been well fed that night. One Of the
last bodies we picked up was that Of the
sentry at the upper end. | asked Good
how he managed to kill him, and he told
me that he had crept up much as Umslop
ogaas had done, and stabbed him with his
sword. He groaned a good deal, but for
tunately, nobody heard him. AS Good
said, it was horrible thing to have to do,
and most anpleaSantly like cold-blooded
murder.
And so. with the last body that loated
away down the current of the Tana, ended
the incident of our attack on the Nasal
camp The spears and shields and other
arms we took up to the Mission, where
they filled an clubhouse. One incident,
however, ! must not forget to mention.
| AS we were returning from performing the
obS2qlieS Of oar Nasal friends, we passed
| the hollow tree where AlphOnSc had secret
| ed himself III the morning. 1t so happened
| that the little man himself was with US
| assisting il our ample SAINT task with a faI
| better will than he had shown when live
Mahai were concerned. Indeed, for each
| body that he handled he found an appro-
| pirate sarcasm. Alphonse throwing dead
| Nasal into the Tana was a very different
creature from Alphonse flying FOR dear life
| from the spear of a live Nasal. He was
| quite merry and gay, was this volatile child
of France, he clapped his hands and war
| bled snatches of French songs as the grim
| dead warriors went splash" into the run
| ming waters to carry message OF death
and defiance to their kindred a hundred
miles below. In short, thinking that he
wanted taking down a peg. | suggested
| holding a court-martial on him for his con-
| duct in the morning.
] Accordingly, Ne brought him to the tree
where he had hidden, and proceeded to sit
| in Judgment on him. Sir Henry explained
| to him in the very best French the I'M
| heard-of cowardice and enOrmity of his
| conduct, more especially in letting the
oiled rag out of his mouth, whereby he
nearly aroused the Nasal camp with tooth
! chattering and brought about the failure
of our plans; ending up with request for
an explanation.
| But if we expected to find Alphonse at a
| loss and put him to an open shame, we
| were destined to be disappointed He
bowed. and scraped, and smiled, and &C
| knOwledged that his conduct might at first
| blush appear strange, but really it was not
| inasmuch as his teeth were chattering not
| from fear-oh, dear, no! oh, certainly not!
| he marveled how the ''messieurs" could
| think of such thing-but from the chill
| air of the morning. As for the rag, il
| monsieur could have but tasted its evil
| flavor, being compounded, indeed, of a
mixture Of stale parafiin oil, grease, and
| gunpOwder, monsieur himself would have
| sDat it out. But he did nothing of the
sort; he determined to keep it there TILL
| ALAS his stomach ''revolted," and the rag
was elected in an access Of involuntary
| sickness
"And what have you got to say about
| getting into the hollow tree?" asked SiI
| Henry, keeping his countenance with dif-
| ticulty.
But, monsieur the explanation is easy;
| oh, most easyl 1t was thus: | stood there
| by the kraal wall, and the little gray mon
| sieur hit me in the stomach so that my rifle
| exploded, and the battle began Watched
whilst recovering myself from monsieur's
| cruel blow; then, messeurs, felt the he
roic blood of my grandfather boil up in my
veins. The sight made me mad. Iground
| my teeth Fire flashed from my eyes!
| shouted En- GUGfttp and longed to slay
| Before my eyes there rose a vision of my
| heroic grandfather In short, was madl
| l was warrior indeedi But then in my
| heart | heard a small voice, 'Alphonse
| said the voice, restrain myself, Alphonse
| Give not way to this evil passionl These
| men, though black, are brothers And
thou wouldst Stay them? Cruel Alphonsep
| The voice was right. | knew it; | was
| about to perpetrate the most horrible cru
| elites; to wound! to massacre! to tear limb
| from limb! And how restrain myself,
| looked round; | saw the tree, | perceived
| the hole. 'Entomb myself said the voice
| and hold on tight, Thou wilt thus over
| come the temptation by main forcen 1t
was bitter, just when the blood Of my he.
roic grandfather boiled most tiercely; but
1 obeyedl | dragged my unwilling feet
| along; l entombed myself Through the
hole watched the battle! shouted curses
and defiance on the foe! l noted them fall
| with satisfaction Why nots l had not
| robbed them of their lives The gore was
not upon my head. The blood of my he
| roic-"
| "Oh, get along with you, you little cur"
| broke out Sir Henry, with shout of laugh
| ter, and giving Alphonse a good kick which
| sent him flying off with a rueful face
In the evening had an interview with
| Mr.. Mackenzie, who was suffering a good
| deal from his wounds, which Good, who
was a skillful though unqualified doctor,
| ularly distressed, although the skin over
the hole in his head palpitated violently.
"Ah, Macumazahn!'' he said TO me as
! was treating him for He told me that
this occurrence had taught him a lesson,
| and that, if he recovered safely, he meant
| to hand over the Mission to a younger man
| who was already on his ROAD to joil him in
| his work, and return to England.
You see. Quartermain.' he said. made
| up my mind to this, this very morning,
| when we were creeping down upon those
| beuighted savages II we live through
| this and rescue Flossie alive, said TO my
| self will go home TO England l have